As an emerging field of study, granular computing has received much attention. Many models, frameorks, methods and techniques have been proposed and studied. It is perhaps the time to seek for a general and unified view so that fundamental issues can be examined and clarified. This paper examines granular computing from three perspectives. By viewing granular computing as a way of structured thinking,we focus on its philosophical foundations in modeling human perception of the reality. By viewing granular computing as a method of structured problem solving, we examine its theoretical and methodological foundations in solving a wide range of real-world problems. By viewing granular computing as a paradigm of information processing,we turn our attention to its more concrete techniques. The three perspectives together offer a holistic view of granular computing.